GIFT   OF 


GIFT 
MAR  6  1919 


THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  POLAND 

WITH  TWO  EXPLANATORY  MAPS 


THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  POLAND 

WITH  TWO  EXPLANATORY  MAPS 

BY 

Dr.  A.  Syski 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  POLISH 
DEPARTMENT  OF  AMERICA 


POLISH  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  COMMITTEE 
BOSTON,  MASS. 


UNITED   STATES   OF  POLAND 

BY  DR.  A.  SYSKI 
Member  of  the  National  Polish  Department  of  America. 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  POLISH  PROBLEM 

"The  Polish  question  is  the  key  to  the  European  vault,"  said 
Napoleon. 

The  future  peace  of  Europe  will  largely  depend  on  its  proper 
solution. 

Unfortunately  the  very  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  Polish 
nation  was  brought  into  prominence  and  the  attention  of  the 
world  only  lately. 

During  the  period  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the 
people  of  the  world  would  occasionally  meet  with  some  poor 
Polish  immigrant;  would  read  a  novel  by  Sienkiewicz,  the  au- 
thor of  "Quo  Vadis";  would  go  with  pleasure  to  Paderewski's 
concert  and  enjoy  his  interpretation  of  Chopin's  Polish  Music, 
—but  to  many  of  them  these  things  did  not  even  suggest  the 
fact  that  somewhere,  in  a  distant  part  of  Europe,  there  existed 
a  national  life  and  a  civilization  whose  human,  literary,  and 
artistic  products  thus  reached  them  in  fragments. 

They  were  like  fishermen,  who,  having  caught  a  fish  close  to 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  were  satisfied  with  it  and  did  not  even 
ask  themselves  what  sort  of  life  it  was  beneath  the  surface 
that  had  produced  the  specimen  they  caught. 

In  the  years  just  prior  to  the  war,  the  papers  brought  them 
occasional  news  about  a  desperate  struggle  for  existence  going 
on  in  German  or  Russian  Poland,  about  the  unheard-of  meas- 
ures employed  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Polish  nation- 
ality, about  the  law  to  expropriate  Polish  possessors  of  land 
estates,  about  the  Polish  children  being  flogged  because  they 
insisted  in  praying  in  their  mother  tongue  and  so  on. 

But  they  knew  very  little  of  the  nation  engaged  in  the  strug- 
gle and  failed  to  realize  what  the  contest  meant  for  Europe. 

It  was  only  after  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war  that  the 
Polish  existence  and  problem  reappeared,  and  that  the  idea 


392633 


of  independence  and  reunion  of  the  partitioned  Polish  terri- 
tory was  put  forward. 

The  people  of  the  world  only  then  began  to  ask  "What  is 
Poland?  What  are  her  frontiers,  her  boundaries?  What  the 
number  of  her  people  and  strength  ?" 

It  was  not  easy  to  find  answer  to  these  questions. 

Outside  Poland  itself,  literature  concerning  that  country, 
still  pretty  rich  as  late  as  fifty  years  ago,  particularly  in 
French  and  English,  became  in  time  worse  than  poor. 

The  very  few  modern  books  on  the  subject  are  either  partial, 
written  by  the  enemies  of  Poland  with  the  view  to  discredit 
Poland  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  or  if  friendly,  then  very  far 
from  being  exact,  and  accordingly  unable  to  give  a  true  picture 
of  Polish  reality  and  claims. 

The  average  educated  man,  therefore,  knows  that  in  the  past 
there  existed  a  great  Polish  kingdom,  that  towards  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  it  disappeared  from  the  map  of 
Europe,  and  that  later  the  Poles  tried  to  recover  their  inde- 
pendence by  means  of  a  series  of  insurrections, — but  what 
became  of  the  nation  afterwards  and  especially  what  the  neces- 
sities and  the  real  boundaries  of  Poland  are  at  present,  the 
average  educated  man  does  not  know. 

And  yet  it  is  important  to  know  it. 

It  is  important  to  know  what  Poland  is  to-day,  and  it  is  im- 
portant to  know  what  Poland  should  be  in  the  future. 

WHAT  IS  POLAND  TO-DAY? 

What  is  Poland  to-day? 

It  is  a  vast  desert,  an  immense  ruin,  a  colossal  cemetery. 

Precious  works  of  art,  valuable  books,  documents,  and  manu- 
scripts, all  the  priceless  proofs  of  the  ancient  thousand  years 
of  old  Polish  culture  have  been  confiscated — as  the  operation  is 
diplomatically  called  when  it  is  performed  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing collective  force. 

Several  large  cities  have  been  spared,  preserved  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  German  or  Russian  guests  in  Poland. 

But  on  the  tremendous  battle-front  extending  from  the  Baltic 
Sea  to  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  all 
of  Russian  Poland,  almost  the  whole  of  Austrian,  and  even  a 
portion  of  Prussian  Poland  have  been  totally  ruined. 


3 

300  towns,  2,000  churches,  20,000  villages  have  been  wiped 
away. 

An  area  equal  in  size  to  the  States  of  Illinois,  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  and  Maine  put  together  has  been  laid  waste. 

What  could  remain  of  a  country  where  in  many  districts 
those  huge  armies  of  millions  of  men  were  moving  forward  and 
backward  for  over  three  years? 

Over  three  years  of  continuous  fighting,  of  incessant  danger, 
of  uninterrupted  anguish  and  pain  imposed  upon  an  innocent 
nation. 

Millions  of  homeless  peasants,  of  unemployed  workmen,  of 
humble  Polish  and  Jewish  shop-keepers  have  been  driven  into 
open  wastes. 

Millions  of  bereaved  parents,  of  breadless,  helpless  widows 
and  orphans,  have  been  wandering  about  in  the  desolate  land, 
hiding  in  woods  or  in  hollows,  happy  when  they  found  an  aban- 
doned trench,  and  in  that  trench,  next  to  the  body  of  a  fallen 
fighter,  some  decaying  remnants  of  soldiers'  food. 

Forced  from  their  homes  to  escape  the  ruthless  fury  of  the 
invaders,  thousands  of  these  unfortunates  died  of  starvation, 
leaving  their  bodies  upon  the  roadside  to  mark  the  line  of 
march  of  a  stricken  people. 

Mr.  Frederick  Wolcott,  who  at  that  time  visited  Poland,  says 
that  both  sides  of  the  road  he  motored  along  were  completely 
lined  for  the  whole  230  miles  with  mud-covered  and  rain- 
stricken  clothing. 

The  bones  have  been  cleared  by  the  crows. 

The  Prussians  came  along,  gathering  the  larger  bones,  for 
these  were  useful  as  phosphate  and  fertilizer.  The  little-finger 
and  toe  bones  were  left  with  the  rags  of  clothing. 

The  little  wicker  baby-baskets  were  there  by  hundreds  upon 
hundreds.  Mr.  Wolcott  started  to  count  them  for  the  first  mile 
or  two,  giving  it  up  in  despair — for  there  were  so  many  of  them. 

He  saw  no  buildings  in  that  whole  stretch  of  230  miles. 
Everything  has  been  destroyed ;  nothing  but  the  bare  black  and 
charred  chimneys  were  standing.  No  live  stock,  no  farm  im- 
plements, no  sign  of  a  living  being  in  all  that  vast  area. 

This  is  Poland  to-day. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  fact  of  this  terrible  devastation 
of  Poland,  the  magnitude  of  its  domain  and  the  number  of  its 
people  is  still  enormous. 


The  Polish  Kingdom  of  Boleslaus  the  Great  (992-1025) 
stretched  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Carpathians. 

It  included  part  of  Saxony,  the  whole  of  Silesia,  Pomerania, 
Prussia,  Moravia,  Slovakia,  and  stretched  almost  to  Berlin. 

In  1772,  when  came  the  first  dismemberment,  Poland  covered 
300,000  square  miles,  almost  100,000  miles  more  than  Germany 
of  to-day. 

As  it  then  was  it  would  rank  with  Italy  as  the  fifth  European 
nation. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  this  war  there  was  a  compact  mass 
of  30,000,000  people  in  Europe  speaking  the  Polish  language, 
and,  whatever  ruler  might  claim  dominion  over  them,  they  were 
one.  No  mutilation  of  the  national  body,  no  cruelties  or  oppres- 
sions could  dissever  the  Poles  in  their  spirit. 

They  remain  to-day  one  nation  in  language  and  in  aspira- 
tions, despite  a  century  and  a  half  of  politic  slavery;  and 
through  all  those  years  the  love  of  liberty  has  burned  within 
them,  as  an  inextinguishable  flame. 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  POLAND  IN  THE  FUTURE 
MAP  OF  EUROPE 

The  significance  of  Poland  in  the  future  map  of  Europe  is 
so  momentous  that  a  short-sightedness  of  the  world  on  this 
subject  would  be  criminal. 

This  tremendous  international  import  of  the  Polish  question 
was  very  clearly  indicated  to  the  world  by  every  scholar  who 
discussed  it. 

One  of  them,  Dr.  E.  J.  Dillon,  in  an  article  in  the  Fortnightly 
entitled  "The  Allies'  Task,"  frankly  admits  and  points  out  that 
"unless  a  new  Poland,  strong  and  independent,  is  created, 
the  Allies  will  lose  the  war,  even  though  at  the  Peace  con- 
gress they  shall  have  appeared  to  win  it." 

There  would,  he  says,  perhaps  have  been  no  world-war,  if 
independent  Poland  had  remained  a  Baltic  Power  possessed 
of  a  fleet  in  the  Gulf  of  Dantzic  and  of  a  country  traversed  by 
a  network  of  strategic  railways. 

One  of  the  indispensable  safeguards  of  future  peace  is  the 
establishment  of  strong  frontier  guards  in  north  and  south  to 
bar  the  Teutons'  road  to  Constantinople  and  the  Black  Sea. 


The  power  of  Germany  comes  not  from  the  west,  but  from 
the  east,  from  Prussia,  from  the  country  built  nearly  entirely 
on  the  Slavonic  side, — and  every  progress  of  the  Germans  in 
the  east  means  a  new  menace  to  Europe. 

The  first  thing  for  Europe  to  do,  if  she  wants  to  have  Ger- 
many less  dangerous,  is  to  stop  the  progress  of  Germanism  in 
the  east. 

But  by  what  means  may  it  be  stopped? 

It  certainly  cannot  be  stopped  by  the  establishment  of  numer- 
ous small  states  such  as  Ukraina,  White  Ruthenia,  Lithuania, 
and  Lettonia,  which  naturally  cannot  exist  without  falling 
under  the  influence  of  its  strong  neighbor  Germany,  and  which 
Germany  encourages  to  spring  out  of  the  ruins  of  Kussia. 

The  only  barrier  against  strong  Germany  would  be  either 
strong  Russia  or  strong  Poland. 

But  the  events  show  that  Russia  is  no  match  for  Germany. 

In  the  country  of  Polish  civilization  which  extends  to  the 
north  and  to  the  south  of  Germany,  the  Russian  civilization 
which  is  a  progressive  force  in  Siberia,  Caucasus,  and  Central 
Asia  has  no  constructive  power  at  all. 

The  only  possible  constructive  power  to  fight  against  German 
aggression  in  the  Polish  country  to  the  north  and  to  the  south 
of  Germany  is  a  Polish  civilization. 

This  was  proved  by  the  successful  struggle  of  German  Poles 
in  Germany,  and  therefore,  if  this  country  is  to  be  saved  from 
German  conquest,  a  strong  Polish  state  and  Polish  civilization 
must  be  given  full  freedom  to  develop  over  there. 

The  interest  of  Germany  demands  a  weak  Poland  surrounded 
by  provinces  either  directly  belonging  to  Germany  or  recogniz- 
ing Teutonic  supremacy. 

The  interests  of  peace  require  a  large,  powerful,  and  eco- 
nomically independent  Poland. 

A  peace  which  would  leave  in  Germany's  hands  any  economic 
whip  over  Poland  would  be  a  German  peace. 

Poland  should  be  restored  in  a  manner  which  would  satisfy 
the  needs  and  wishes  of  the  Polish  nation. 

According  to  the  statement  of  that  great  Pole,  I.  Paderewski, 
a  new  Poland  should  be  a  continuation  of  that  which  she  has 
been;  otherwise  she  cannot  find  again  the  ideal  which  she  has 
in  her  soul.  Her  ideal  has  in  itself  all  the  elements  of  vitality 
and  progress,  and  is  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  nature  of  the 


Polish  people  that  it  forms  the  psychological  necessity  of  their 
existence. 

Polish  life  cannot  be  normal  if  she  lacks  the  essential  ele- 
ments which  have  given  her  breath.  The  partitions  of  Poland 
have  not  divided  the  nation.  They  have  created  a  flagrant  con- 
tradiction between  an  artificial  state,  established  by  force,  and 
the  national  conscience. 

If  one  should  plan  to  cut  out  a  certain  part  of  the  former 
Poland  to  make  a  new  one,  if  instead  of  erasing  the  artificial 
confines  one  should  only  modify  their  direction,  it  would  be 
creating  irredeutisms  which  would  fatally  lead  to  a  new  crisis. 
If  we  are  to  have  a  lasting  and  durable  peace,  we  must  reunite 
in  the  new  Poland  all  the  Polish  lands.  It  is  evident  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  construct  a  Polish  state  out  of  territories 
where  there  are  no  Poles;  but  would  it  be  possible  to  build  a 
Poland  out  of  lands  which  have  never  formed  a  part  of  her 
history,  if  by  some  chance,  let  us  suppose,  due  to  a  forced 
immigration,  the  number  of  Poles  would  reach  65  per  cent,  of 
the  inhabitants? 

NUMBER  OF  POLES  INHABITING  POLISH  LANDS 

The  correct  number  of  Poles  inhabiting  Polish  lands  is  gen- 
erally little  known,  because  in  compiling  the  statistics  the 
interested  governments  always  treated  the  ethnical  problems 
from  a  viewpoint  of  their  politics.  The  following  calculations 
are  based  upon  the  only  existing  authority,  the  official  sta- 
tistics compiled  before  the  war,  and  as  such  they  must  be  ac- 
cepted with  the  understanding  that  they  show  only  the  mini- 
mum of  Polish  elements : — 

I.     RUSSIAN  PARTITION: — 

a.  Kingdom  of  Poland,  within  the  territories  outlined  by  the 

Congress  of  Vienna  (1815),  of  127,684  square  kilometres. 

Total  population  (including  Russian  troops),  13,427,180 : 

Poles,  10,232,200  (76.46  per  cent.)  ;  Lithuanians,  336,900; 

Ruthenians,  374,280 ;  Russians,  137,200 ;  Jews,  1,746,600 ; 

Germans,  500,000. 
6.  Lithuania  and  White  Ruthenia:  6,000,000  Poles. 

c.  Ruthenia:  870,000  Poles. 

d.  In  Russia,  the  scattered  Polish  colonies  (chiefly  in  the 
industrial  districts)  count  approximately  600,000. 

The  total  number  of  Poles  in  the  Russian  partition  is  17,702,200. 


IT.     AUSTRIAN  PARTITION: — 

a.  Galicia,  consisting  of  a  part  of  former  Little  Poland 
and  Ked  Kuthenia  or  East  Galicia,  covers  an  area  of 
78,497  square  kilometres.  The  total  number  of  inhabi- 
tants is  8,200,000,  composed  of  Poles,  4,960,000  (61  per 
cent.)  ;  Kuthenians,  3,140,000  (39  per  cent.). 

&.  Silesia  of  Cieszyn,  with  an  area  of  23,000  square  kilo- 
metres. Total  population,  434,000,  with  285,000  Poles, 
or  65  per  cent. 

c.  Spisz,  occupied  by  the  Austrians  since  1769,  and  to-day 
belonging  to  Hungary,  has  200,000  Poles. 

d.  Bukowina  has  36,000  Poles,  Bosnia,  12,000,  and  other 
Austrian  provinces,  24,000. 

The  total  number  of  Poles  in  Austrian  partition  is  5,417,000. 

III.     PRUSSIAN  PARTITION  : — 

Compiling  the  official  statistics  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment employed  various  methods  with  the  purpose  to 
diminish  the  figures  of  the  correct  number  of  Poles. 
The  recognition  of  the  Kaszub  and  Mazurian  dialects  as 
belonging  to  separate  nationalities,  and  other  details  of 
registry  particularly  unfavorable  for  the  Poles,  were  the 
chief  means  of  lowering  the  figures  of  Poles  in  the  Prus- 
sian partition. 

The  statistics  of  primary  schools  are  a  trifle  more  ac- 
curate than  the  figures  of  the  general  census,  although 
still  unfavorable  to  the  Poles.  According  to  the  latest 
data  (1910)  the  figures  of  Polish  population  in  the 
Prussian  partition  are  as  follows : — 

a.  The  Grand  Duchy  of  Posen  (annexed  by  Prussia  during 
the  second  partition  of  Poland  in  1793")  covers  an  area 
of  28,996  square  kilometres,  with  a  total  population  of 
2,100,000,  out  of  which  there  are  1,465,000  Poles,  or 
69.67  per  cent.  Out  of  forty-two  districts,  thirty-three 
have  an  unquestionably  predominant  Polish  population. 

6.  West  Prussia  (formerly  Koyal  Prussia)  was  assigned 
to  Prussia  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna  in  1815.  The 
total  area  is  25,553  square  kilometres,  with  a  population 
of  1,703,500,  of  which  754,500  (44.29  per  cent.)  are  Poles. 
Out  of  twenty-nine  districts,  fourteen  have  a  predomi- 
nance of  Poles. 

c.  East  Prussia  (Ducal  Prussia).  Total  area,  37,000  square 
kilometres.     Population,   543,000.     The   Poles   number 
385,000,  or  70.9  per  cent.,  with  an  overwhelming  pre- 
dominance in  eight  districts  out  of  ten. 

d,  Prussian  Silesia.    Total  area,  40,355  square  kilometres, 
with  a  population  of  2,208,000,  of  which  1,548,500,  or  70.1 
per  cent.,  are  Poles.    Out  of  twenty-six  districts,  eighteen 
have  the  Polish  majority  of  population. 


8 

e.  In  Germany,  outside  of  Polish  territory,  there  live  about 
600,000  Poles.  The  major  part  of  them  (over  500,000) 
is  concentrated  in  the  industrial  districts  of  Westphalia. 

The  total  number  of  Poles  in  the  German  partition  was  in 
1914,  4,751,000.  Counting  the  increase  of  population  from  the 
year  1914  till  1918,  we  can  estimate  the  total  population  of 
Poles  in  the  German  partition  as  5,000,000. 

The  minimum  figure,  compiled  by  Poland's  enemies,  gives  a 
total  of  Polish  population  in  the  Russian,  Austrian,  and  Ger- 
man partitions  as  25,319,200,  but  actually  it  may  be  accepted 
as  certain  that  the  total  is  about  thirty  millions. 


TWO  ESSENTIALS  OF  AN  INDEPENDENT  POLAND 


what  is  the  first  essential  of  an  independent  strong 
new  state  of  Poland  to  be  formed  out  of  this  great  number  of 
the  Polish  people  in  Europe? 

The  answer  is  in  four  words  —  "Access  to  the  sea." 

No  nation  ever  lived  and  thrived  without  a  seaport,  for  the 
lack  of  a  seaport  involves  economic  and,  therefore,  political 
dependence  upon  those  neighbors  who  command  and  control 
the  passage  of  such  a  neighbor's  commerce  through  their  terri- 
tories. 

Now  the  ancient  port  of  Poland  is  Dantzic,  the  natural  outlet 
of  the  great  and  rich  Polish  Basin  of  the  Vistula,  but  diverted 
from  its  true  functions  by  the  German  commercial  system. 

Dantzic,  ethnographically  Polish,  went  voluntarily  to  Poland 
in  1455,  glad  to  escape  from  the  corrupt  rule  of  the  Teutonic 
Knights. 

The  city  of  Dantzic  was  at  that  time  formally  ceded  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Poland  at  the  Peace  of  Thorn,  and  remained  faith- 
ful to  Polish  destinies  until  forcibly  divorced  by  Prussian  an- 
nexation in  the  year  1793.  It  is  mockery  to  talk  of  Polish 
independence  unless  this  ancient  seaport  of  Poland  is  restored 
to  her. 

But  there  is  also  another  essential  of  Poland,  if  she  is  to  be 
a  nation,  and  that  is  national  industry. 

Poland  cannot  well  have  a  national  industry  unless  the  mines 
of  Silesia  are  restored  to  her. 

These  mines,  like  her  port,  were  stolen  from  her  by  Frederick 


9 

the  Great,  but  the  country  of  Silesia  is  still  Polish  in  popu- 
lation. 

If  neither  of  these  two  things  is  granted  to  Poland,  it  is 
the  hollowest  and  most  transparent  of  mockeries  to  dangle 
before  the  tortured  eyes  of  Poland  any  hope  of  independence. 

A  Poland  without  Dantzic  or  without  Silesia  is  doomed, 
whatever  her  political  system  may  be,  to  be  the  economic  and 
therefore  the  political  vassal  of  Prussia. 

Once  the  necessity  of  Poland  reunited  and  independent  is 
admitted,  these  two  conditions  in  re-establishing  the  Polish 
state  are  essential. 


~g  i? 


HISTORIC  MAP  OF  POLAND 
THE  BOUNDARIES  OF  POLAND 

But  even  after  the  favorable  solution  of  these  two  principal 
and  essential  conditions  of  future  Poland,  the  question  what 


10 

other  territories  are  to  be  included  in  the  new  Republic  of 
Poland  must  be  given  also  very  careful  and  strong  considera- 
tion. 

"No  country  in  the  world  illustrates  more  forcibly  the  dis- 
astrous effects  of  bad  boundaries  than  does  the  old  Kingdom 
of  Poland,"  says  Col.  Sir  Th.  H.  Holdien  in  his  recent  book 
"The  Boundaries  of  Europe." 

New  Poland  should  have  certainly  new  and  far  better  boun- 
daries in  future. 

To  start  with,  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  question  of 
the  boundaries  of  the  future  independent  Poland  is  not  only 
a  territorial  one,  but  mainly  a  national  and  racial  one. 

Could  the  matter  be  decided  merely  on  the  basis  of  geo- 
graphical and  commercial  boundaries,  the  problem  would  be 
a  trifling  one. 

Kivers,  forests,  mountains,  and  valleys  do  not  protest  against 
any  of  their  possessors,  and  readily  accept  any  political  ar- 
rangements and  limitations  man  makes  on  their  account. 

It  is  the  people  who  dwell  there  who  give  rise  to  the  problem. 

The  populations  living  in  the  border  provinces  which  formed 
the  old  Kingdom  of  Poland  claim  in  a  great  measure  their  own 
nationality,  and  it  is,  therefore,  easy  to  understand  that  the 
case  of  these  nationalities  should  also  be  examined  very  care- 
fully. According  to  the  resolution  of  the  Polish  Provisional 
State  Council  in  Warsaw,  the  question  of  the  fate  of  these 
provinces  must  be  solved  in  accordance  with  the  state  interests 
of  independent  Poland. 

This  solution  of  course  would  be  totally  different  from  the 
solution  on  the  merely  geographical  or  ethnographical  basis. 

POLAND  AS  A  GEOGRAPHICAL  UNITY 

Geographically,  Poland  is  the  country  of  the  Vistula,  and 
as  such  she  has  a  geographical  unity  which  should  not  be 
broken  into. 

The  very  name  of  Poland  is  derived  from  the  word  "Pole," 
which  in  all  Slavonic  languages  means  "a  field,  a  plain";  and 
it  derives  from  the  fact  that  the  country  lies  in  a  vast  produc- 
tive plateau  of  which  the  river  Vistula  is  the  centre,  and  which 
has  the  river  Oder  on  the  west,  and  the  river  Dnieper  on  the 
east.  This  has  been  the  home  for  centuries  of  the  Poles.  In 


11 

the  early  days  of  the  ninth  century,  before  the  eastern  Slavonic 
country  had  been  conquered  by  the  Normans  of  Roesland  and 
had  received  from  them  the  name  of  Russia,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country  bordered  by  the  rivers  Dnieper  and  Oder  and 
those  living  in  the  Vistula  and  Warta  districts  were  all  known 
under  the  name  of  "Polanie,"  Polans.  The  most  ancient  of 
Russia's  historical  documents,  the  Chronicle  of  Nestor,  dating 
from  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  as  well  as  the  first 
prominent  historian  of  Russia,  Karamzin,  agreed  that  the 
ancient  Poles  and  the  Polans  were  the  same  people,  speaking 
the  same  language. 

It  is  worth  while  pointing  out  in  this  connection  that  the 
economic  development  of  Poland  in  the  last  century  has  been 
seriously  hindered  by  the  fact  that  the  Vistula  had  to  run 
through  parts  of  Austria,  Russia,  and  Germany. 

It  has  thus  been  in  the  interest  of  none  of  these  Powers 
to  develop  navigation  on  the  river,  which  is  one  of  the  finest 
in  Europe.  Germany,  owning  the  estuary,  has  done  the  most, 
as  she  was  able  to  use  the  part  of  the  Vistula  which  she  has 
possessed  without  reference  to  the  others. 

And  yet  the  Basin  of  the  Vistula  contains  one  of  the  richest 
coal-fields  in  Europe  and  is  developing  into  one  of  the  greatest 
manufacturing  centres  in  the  world. 

An  independent  state  of  Poland  cannot  exist  unless  it  pos- 
sesses the  whole  Basin  of  the  Vistula  with  the  mines  of  Silesia 
and  with  the  great  port  of  Dantzig  at  the  Baltic  near  its 
mouth,  although  at  the  present  moment  the  population  of 
Dantzig  is  predominantly  Germanized. 


POLITICAL    ASPECT    OF    THE    BOUNDARIES    OF 

POLAND 

Another  aspect  of  the  all-embracing  problem  of  the  future 
boundaries  of  Poland  is  rather  political. 

The  history  of  Europe  and  the  United  States  has  shown  that 
a  superior  nation  is  in  no  danger  of  being  absorbed  by  its 
inferior  neighbors,  whatever  the  difference  in  population. 

Accordingly,  the  civilization  of  the  future  Poland  will  be 
Polish  whatever  the  number  of  non-Polish  nations  included 
within  its  frontiers. 


12 

This  leaves  one  to  suggest  that  the  boundaries,  when  they 
come  to  be  drawn,  need  not  follow  the  ethnographical  or  geo- 
graphical frontiers  of  Poland  too  closely. 

On  the  contrary,  there  are  cases,  and  such  is  this  one  of 
Poland,  where  the  drawing  of  her  boundaries  exclusively  on 
the  national  geographical  basis,  would  be  precarious,  not  only 
for  the  Poles,  but  eventually  also  for  the  other  peoples  in  whose 
favor  it  would  be  done. 


THE  NATIONALITIES  CONCERNED 

There  are  three  nationalities  especially  concerned  at  this 
point,  namely,  Ukrainians,  Lithuanians,  and  White  Ruthenians. 

The  problem  of  each  of  these  nationalities  is  rather  peculiar, 
and  practically  cannot  be  solved  without  reference  to  Poland. 

In  the  first  place,  they  all  are  not  yet  developed  enough  to 
be  alone  and  independent. 

The  culture  of  each  of  them  in  their  upper  and  civilized 
classes  is  everywhere  Polish. 

There  is  no  Ukrainian  in  Ukrania,  or  Lithuanian  in  Lithu- 
ania, or  White  Ruthenian  in  White  Ruthenia  who  would  be 
unable  to  speak,  or  read,  or  at  least  to  understand  Polish. 

The  Polish  language  is  regarded  over  there  as  the  language 
of  the  educated  class,  without  any  distinction — be  they  Poles, 
or  Lithuanians,  or  White  Ruthenians,  or  Ukrainians. 

Moreover,  there  is  there  only  one  language,  namely  Lithuan- 
ian, which  is  totally  different  from  Polish  and  which  could  not 
be  understood  by  the  Poles. 

Two  other  languages,  namely,  White  Ruthenian  and 
Ukrainian,  are  rather  local  dialects  representing  some  mixture 
of  Polish  language  and  Russian  language. 

Every  Pole  understands  White  Ruthenian  and  Ukrainian, 
although  there  are  millions  of  the  Poles  or  of  the  natives  in 
those  countries,  but  so  thoroughly  polonized  by  centuries  of 
common  life  in  the  old  Polish  Kingdom  that  they  do  not  use 
in  their  intercourse  these  local  dialects  and  are  satisfied  only 
with  Polish. 

And  now  comes  the  question,  whose  part  should  we  take? 

Should  we  force  the  upper  class  of  the  people  in  those 
countries  to  lose  and  forget  their  nationality  in  order  to  submit 


13 

to  the  state  of  the  lower,  uncultured,  although  more  numerous 
class,  or,  vice  versa,  should  we  submit  the  latter  to  the  first? 
The  problem  is  indeed  very  difficult,  but  it  is  evident  that  it 
cannot  be  solved  by  either  extreme. 


THE  POLISH  SOLUTION  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

The  leaders  of  the  Polish  cause  especially  do  not  want  to 
impose  their  nationality  on  the  inferior  classes  of  the  people 
they  are  dwelling  with,  but  they  also  strongly  protest  against 
the  attacks  upon  their  own. 

All  they  want  is  to  live  and  let  others  live. 

The  Polish  solution  of  the  problem  is  accordingly  not  subju- 
gation, but  autonomy  and  federation. 

Besides  Poland  proper  ethnographical,  with  the  majority  of 
population  strictly  and  exclusively  Polish,  there  should  be  re- 
established a  United  States  of  Poland  with  the  official  use  of 
two,  and  in  some  provinces  even  three  languages,  namely, 
Polish  and  Lithuanian,  or  White  Ruthenian,  or  Ukrainian, 
according  to  the  local  conditions. 

This,  and  this  alone,  is  the  only  logical  and  reasonable  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  which  would  satisfy  all  the  parties  con- 
cerned, and,  furthermore,  which  would  be  politically  beneficial. 

It  would  be  detrimental  to  all  the  people  concerned  to  follow 
the  solution  of  the  problem  suggested  and  even  started  by 
Germany,  namely,  the  establishment  in  those  countries  of  the 
whole  group  of  the  small  states,  which  would  be  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Germans,  instead  of  one  strong  state  of  Poland,  which 
could  withstand  the  German  influence. 

Neither  Poland  alone  (Poland  proper),  nor  Lithuania,  nor 
Ukraina,  nor  White  Ruthenia  alone,  can  withstand  the  German 
''Drang  nacTi  Osten"  and  would  easily  fall  under  the  influence 
of  Germany  sooner  or  later. 

Their  only  hope  is  to  unite  and  bind  together  in  order  to 
insure  their  future  self-preservation. 

The  best   proof   of   it   is   Czecho- Slovakia. 

The  leaders  of  this  new  state  in  Europe  combine  three  nation- 
alities with  three  different  languages,  namely,  Czechs,  Moravi- 
ans, and  Slovaks,  in  order  to  be  strong  enough  to  form  one 
state. 


14 

The  dominant  nationality  there  would  certainly  be  the  Czechs 
(Bohemians),  but  no  one  accuses  them  of  the  imperialistic 
spirit  just  because  they  want  to  be  strong  by  uniting  with 
Moravia  and  Slovakia. 

Even  the  Poles  do  not  oppose  the  union  of  Moravia  and 
Slovakia  with  Bohemians,  although  both  those  people  were 
once  under  the  dominion  of  Poland,  and  although,  nationally, 
culturally,  and  linguistically  they  are  as  near  to  the  Poles  as 
to  the  Bohemians. 

The  Poles  understand  that  both  those  peoples  are  not  yet 
sufficiently  developed  and  strong  to  be  alone  and  independent, 
and  that  it  is  beneficial  for  them  to  be  united  with  the  Bo- 
hemians rather  than  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  Austria  or 
Hungary. 

Now  this  is  also  exactly  the  case  of  Lithuania,  White  Ku- 
thenia,  and  Ukraina. 

The  Polish  people  do  not  want  to  subjugate  or  oppress 
these  people,  but  the  Polish  people  claim  to  be  right  in  looking 
for  the  preservation  of  the  union  which  existed  for  centuries 
between  these  people  and  Poland,  and  which  is  even  now  their 
only  hope  of  the  future. 

This  is  the  principal  cause  why  the  new  Polish  state  should 
be  united  with  all  these  border  provinces  of  the  old  Kingdom 
of  Poland. 


THE  CLASSIFIED  TERRITORIES  OF  POLAND 

In  order  to  explain  it  more  clearly,  and  at  the  same  time  in 
order  to  be  brief,  let  us  classify  all  the  territories  on  which 
we  have  to  face  the  Polish  problem,  into  three  classes : — 

1.  The  provinces  of  the  ancient  Polish  Kingdom  where  the 
bulk  of  the  population  is  of  Polish  stock  and  speaks  Polish, 
and  which  were  partitioned  among  Germany,  Russia,  and 
Austria.  They  stretch  from  the  Carpathian  Mountains  to  the 
Baltic  Sea  and  comprise  the  whole  of  the  Vistula  Basin  as 
well  as  the  Basin  of  the  Warta,  the  chief  confluent  of  Oder. 
This  territory  roughly  comprises  what  we  call  the  present 
Kingdom  of  Poland  within  the  boundaries  drawn  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  (1815)  and  the  provinces  of  Western  Galicia, 
Posnania,  West  Prussia,  Podlachia,  and  few  districts  of  Pom- 


15 


SO  1OO%  _. 
25     50% 
70     25% 


POLFX  DUTH£N1AHS 

ETHNOGRAPHICAL  MAP  OF  POLAND 


erania  and  White  Ruthenia.  The  total  area  of  these  provinces 
is  over  75,000  square  miles,  and  their  population  exceeds 
20,000,000,  its  density  approaching  260  inhabitants  per  square 
mile,  which  is  a  very  dense  population  when  it  is  remembered 
that  France  has  only  190  per  square  mile. 

2.  The  provinces  to  the  west  and  north  of  the  provinces 
above  mentioned,  which  were  torn  from  the  ancient  Kingdom 
of  Poland  long  before  its  partition,  but  where  still  a  large 
majority  of  the  people  are  of  Polish  nationality  and  speak 
the  Polish  tongue.  All  these  provinces  belong  chiefly  to  Ger- 
many (German  Silesia,  part  of  Pomerania,  and  the  southern 


16 

part  of  East  Prussia  with  the  Masurian  Lakes)  and  to  Austria- 
Hungary  (Austrian  Silesia  and  Spiz).  They  represent  an 
area  of  over  12,000  square  miles  with  a  population  exceeding 
3,000,000  inhabitants. 

3.  The  provinces  to  the  east  of  the  provinces  mentioned  in 
the  first  place,  which  belonged  to  the  ancient  Kingdom  of 
Poland  until  the  times  of  its  partition,  but  where  the  bulk 
of  the  population  is  of  non-Polish  origin  and  speak  either 
Lithuanian  or  White  Ruthenian  or  Ukrainian,  although  the 
upper  classes  of  the  people  speak  Polish.  On  this  territory  only 
a  small  part,  namely,  Eastern  Galicia  and  Bukowina,  belongs  to 
Austria,  and  only  a  small  part,  namely,  Northern  East  Prussia, 
belongs  to  Germany;  while  the  chief  portion,  the  so-called 
North  and  Southwestern  Provinces,  namely,  Wilno,  Grodno, 
Kowno,  Minsk,  Mohylew,  Witebsk  and  Volhynia,  Podolia,  and 
Ukraina  proper,  belongs  to  Kussia.  These  provinces  represent 
an  area  of  about  200,000  square  miles  with  over  30,000,000  in- 
habitants. The  Poles  form  over  there  only  a  more  or  less 
considerable  minority,  not  over  25  per  cent.,  especially  in  the 
easternmost  districts.  This  vast  stretch  •  of  territory  whose 
inhabitants  in  the  majority  are  non-Polish  by  birth  is  never- 
theless a  country  with  a  Polish  civilization.  At  the  time  of 
the  existence  of  the  ancient  Kingdom  of  Poland,  the  provinces 
of  Volhynia,  Podolia,  and  Ukraina  proper  were  directly  united 
with  Poland  proper,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  rest  of  those 
provinces,  namely  Wilno,  Grodno,  Kowno,  Minsk,  Mohylew, 
and  Witebsk,  were  known  as  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Lithuania, 
and  were  united  with  Poland  as  a  distinct,  separate  unit,  with 
administration  and  even  with  an  army  of  their  own. 

It  is  understood  that  all  the  Polish  provinces  enumerated 
in  the  first  and  second  class  are  indisputably  Polish  and 
should  go  without  any  doubt  to  the  new  re-established  Republic 
of  Poland. 

There  would  be  no  justice  in  the  world  if  they  were  not 
redeemed  and  reunited. 

But  what  about  the  provinces  of  the  third  class,  which  lie 
to  the  east  of  the  first  two? 

It  is  beyond  doubt  that  they  do  not  want  to  be  and  that 
they  will  not  go  again  under  the  dominion  of  Russia. 

They  want  to  be  free,  and  this  is  the  question — should  they 
be  established  in  a  number  of  separate,  independent  states, 


17 

according  to  their  predominant  nationality,  or  should  they 
be  autonomous  but  united  with  Poland  as  they  were  before  its 
partition  ? 

The  first  of  these  solutions  was  suggested  by  Germany  after 
the  occupation  of  these  provinces  during  this  war. 

The  best  proof  of  how  far  Germany  was  in  favor  of  this 
solution  is  the  fact  that  the  German  forces  of  occupation  in 
Lithuania  tried  to  stimulate  the  secession  even  among  the 
White  Euthenians,  organizing  their  country  into  some  kind  of 
an  independent  state,  although  the  natives  of  this  country 
never  dreamed  of  it. 

The  bulk  of  White  Euthenians  consider  themselves  accord- 
ing to  their  religion,  either  with  the  Poles  if  they  are  Catholics, 
or  with  the  Russians  if  they  are  Orthodox. 


THE  WHITE  EUTHENIANS  IN  LITHUANIA 

With  the  exception  of  the  province  of  Kowno  and  a  few 
districts  of  the  province  of  Wilno,  the  White  Euthenians  are 
in  the  absolute  majority  in  all  the  rest  of  the  provinces  of 
Lithuania,  and  the  territory  of  their  state  would  be  really 
large  if  they  were  able  to  organize  it. 

The  only  trouble  is  that  they  do  not  know  how  to  do  it 
and,  furthermore,  that  they  have  as  yet  no  desire  to  do  it. 

The  claims  to  govern  them  come  on  the  other  hand  mainly 
either  from  the  Eussians  or  the  Lithuanians. 

We  hope  that  the  Eussian  domination,  or  rather  misrule, 
has  gone  forever  over  there,  and  that  the  time  of  the  domination 
of  the  Lithuanians  has  not  yet  come. 

Ethnographically  the  number  of  Lithuanians  in  Lithuania 
does  not  exceed  2,500,000,  which  is  only  about  10  per  cent,  of 
the  whole  population  of  that  country. 

They  are  confined  most  exclusively  within  the  borders  of 
only  one  province,  Kowno,  and  a  few  neighboring  districts,  and 
they  are  very  scarce  in  all  other  provinces  over  there. 

Nevertheless,  before  the  partition  of  Poland  the  Lithuanians 
were  the  predominant  nationality  in  the  whole  of  historic 
Lithuania,  and  they  claim  even  now  their  rights  to  the  monop- 
oly of  political  power  and  domination  over  all  the  other  in- 
habitants in  that  country. 


18 

They  forget  that  the  Lithuanians  at  the  time  before  the  parti- 
tion of  Poland,  although  nominally  distinct,  in  reality  were 
the  Poles,  or  polonized  Lithuanians,  speaking  the  Polish  tongue, 
and  regarding  the  Lithuanian  language  as  the  dialect  or  local 
idiom,  only  for  the  uneducated  peasants. 

THE    UNION    OF    LITHUANIA   WITH    POLAND 

The  union  of  Lithuania  with  Poland  before  its  partition  was 
so  close  that  this  distinction  of  the  language  was  practically 
invisible,  especially  in  public  administration.  The  best  proof 
of  it  is  the  fact  that  the  capital  city  of  Lithuania,  Wilno,  is 
entirely  Polish,  and  was  for  a  long  time,  even  after  the  parti- 
tion of  Poland,  the  chief  point  of  the  Polish  culture  and  civili- 
zation, wherefrom  came  a  revival  of  the  Polish  literature  for 
all  Poland  with  such  immortal  leaders  as  Adam  Mickiewicz 
and  Julius  Slowacki. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  understand  how  the  leaders  of  the 
movement  for  the  Lithuanian  secession  intend  to  extirpate  and 
over-run  the  Polish  element  in  Lithuania,  with  their  national 
culture  only  beginning  to  develop,  and  with  their  overwhelming 
minority  in  numbers  when  compared  not  only  with  White 
Kuthenians,  but  even  with  the  Poles  or  thoroughly  polonized 
Lithuanians  and  White  Kuthenians. 

It  is  a  fact  that  autocratic  Russia  was  incomparably 
stronger  than  they  are,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  this  Russia  did 
everything  in  her  power,  beginning  with  the  deportation  of 
Poles  and  confiscation  of  their  estates,  towards  the  suppression 
even  of  the  use  of  the  Polish  language  on  the  streets  of  Lithu- 
anian cities,  in  order  to  extirpate  the  Polish  element  in  Lithu- 
ania, and  if  Kussia  has  not  succeeded,  it  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand how  any  other  Power  can  accomplish  it. 

Moreover,  it  is  strange,  but  it  is  true,  that  the  over-century- 
long  oppression  of  the  Polish  element  in  Lithuania  by  the  mis- 
government  of  Kussia  succeeded  only  in  amalgamating  the 
native  White  Ruthenians  with  the  Poles. 

The  Russian  Government,  by  persecution  of  the  Poles  in 
Lithuania,  accomplished  what  was  hardly  accomplished  by  the 
Polish  possession  of  that  land. 

This  rather  peculiar  result  of  the  Russian  domination  in 
Lithuania  finds  its  explanation  in  the  religion  of  the  people 
concerned. 


19 

The  bulk  of  the  White  Ruthenian  people  of  Lithuania  before 
the  partition  of  Poland  were  Catholic-Uniats. 

The  Catholic-Uniat  Church  was  established  about  1595  as  a 
compromise  or  common  ground  of  worship  for  Catholics  and 
Orthodox  (Greek  Form). 

The  Government  of  Russia,  by  abolishing  forcibly  the  Uniat 
Church  and  by  enrolling  every  Uniat  White  Ruthenian,  against 
his  will,  as  a  member  of  the  Orthodox  Church,  forced  all  those 
who  stubbornly  wanted  to  stay  Catholic  to  become  Polish. 

To  be  a  Catholic  and  to  be  a  Pole  is  synonymous  in  Lithuania 
since  that  time. 

From  the  time  of  the  publication,  in  1905,  of  the  ukase 
granting  religious  freedom  to  all  Russian  subjects  in  Russia, 
the  number  of  these  converted  Poles  in  Lithuania  increased 
enormously. 

If  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  Lithuania  would  be  other 
than  the  union  with  Poland,  then,  it  is  without  any  question 
that  these  polonized  Catholic  White  Ruthenians,  believing 
themselves  to  be  real  Poles,  would  join  with  the  Polish  popula- 
tion over  there  and  would  object  to  the  dominion  of  Lithua- 
nians and  by  all  means  would  try  to  be  reunited  with  Poland. 


THE    POLISH   ELEMENT    IN    LITHUANIA 

There  are  many  districts  of  the  provinces  of  Grodno,  Wilno, 
and  Minsk  in  Lithuania  where  the  Polish  element  is  very 
strong,  and  where,  especially  in  the  cities,  the  Poles  are  in  the 
majority,  so  that  only  by  uniting  with  Poland  could  they  be 
satisfied. 

Such  are  especially  the  districts  of  Bialystok,  Sokolka, 
Bielsk,  Drohiczyn,  Grodno,  Wilno,  and  a  few  others,  at  the 
very  border  of  Poland  proper,  where  the  population  is  ex- 
clusively Polish. 

Encircled  by  the  districts  of  Poland  proper,  they  still  be- 
long to  the  Basin  of  Vistula,  covering  the  banks  of  its  tribu- 
tary, Narew,  and  their  case  is  such  that,  even  without  refer- 
ence to  the  other  districts  of  Lithuania,  they  should  go  to 
Poland  proper,  where  ethnographically  they  belong. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  little  northern  part  of  the  province  of 
Suwalki,  in  what  we  now  call  the  Kingdom  of  Poland  (or 


20 

Poland  proper),  is  inhabited  mostly  by  Lithuanians,  and  it 
should  go  rather  to  Lithuania. 

Outside  of  this  internal  rectification  of  the  boundaries,  the 
solution  of  the  whole  problem  of  Lithuania  should  be  always 
the  same,  the  union,  namely,  with  Poland,  with  complete  self- 
government,  but  with  the  official  use  of  all  languages  con- 
cerned, Polish,  Lithuanian,  and  White  Kuthenian. 

Any  other  way  to  solve  this  situation  would  certainly  be 
only  a  very  problematic  experiment  without  any  hope  of 
success. 

The  Polish  people,  desiring  to  retain  a  free  union  with  Lith- 
uania, are  by  no  means  aggressive,  but  are  rather  conservative 
and  looking  only  for  self-defence. 

SELF-DETERMINATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

Self-determination  of  the  people  is  really  the  ideal,  but  if 
it  is  pushed  to  the  limit,  it  is  absolutely  impossible,  at  least 
in  some  of  the  countries,  where  the  different  nationalities 
form  nothing  else  but  a  melting-pot. 

Such  a  melting-pot  is  Lithuania,  and  such  melting-pots  are 
also  East  Galicia,  Volhynia,  Podolia,  Ukraina  proper,  and 
Bukowina,  about  which  we  must  speak  in  order  to  finish  with 
the  boundaries  of  Poland. 

The  claims  to  the  possession  of  these  above-enumerated  prov- 
inces of  the  ancient  Kingdom  of  Poland  come  from  the  Poles, 
from  the  Russians,  and  from  the  Ukrainians. 

According  to  the  principle  of  self-determination  of  the  people, 
the  Ukrainians,  or  rightly  Ruthenians,  are  really  the  most 
entitled  to  consideration  in  this  respect. 

No  doubt,  they  form  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  in  these 
provinces,  and  in  this  regard  they  have  a  better  claim  than 
the  Lithuanians  in  Lithuania. 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  POLES  IN  EAST  GALICIA, 
VOLHYNIA,  AND  PODOLIA 

Nevertheless,  at  least  in  East  Galicia,  Volhynia,  and  Podolia, 
the  rights  of  the  Poles  to  the  possession  of  the  country  are 
predominant. 


21 

Historically,  the  Poles,  namely,  White  Chrobatiens,  were  the 
first  inhabitants  there.  According  to  the  testimony  of  the 
most  ancient  historian  of  the  Slavs,  Nestor,  the  Ruthenian 
prince  of  Kiew,  Wladimir  the  First,  only  afterwards,  in  the 
year  981,  came  to  that  country,  to  the  Lachs, — that  is,  to 
the  Poles, — and  conquered  from  them  the  cities  of  Przemysl, 
Czerwien,  and  so  on. 

The  Poles  never  ceased  to  strive  to  recover  those  original 
Polish  possessions,  until  they  finally  succeeded  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  King  Casimir  the  Great.  From  the  time  of  Casimir 
the  Great  (1370)  until  the  partition  of  Poland,  East  Galicia, 
Volhynia,  and  Podolia  were  always  Polish. 

No  authority  has  now  a  right  to  dispossess  a  nation  of  the 
territory  originally  its  own,  and  which  after  recovery  it  re- 
tained through  centuries  of  peaceful  possession. 

There  were  troubles  about  possession  by  Poland  of  Ukraina 
proper,  namely,  the  province  of  Kiew,  but  there  was  never 
trouble  about  the  possession  by  Poland  of  Volhynia,  Podolia, 
and  especially  East  Galicia  with  the  entirely  Polish  city  of 
Lemberg,  or  Lwow. 

The  Ruthenians  in  East  Galicia,  Volhynia,  and  Podolia  owe 
their  development  exclusively  to  the  Poles,  and  the  latter  have 
organized  the  country  politically,  economically,  and  socially. 

Even  the  religion  of  Ruthenians  in  these  provinces  is  dif- 
ferent from  the  religion  of  Ukraina  proper  around  Kiew. 

The  Ruthenians  here  are  mostly  Catholic-Uniats,  and  the 
Ruthenians  in  Ukraina  proper  are  Orthodox. 

The  influence  of  the  Poles  in  East  Galicia,  Volhynia,  and 
Podolia  is  not  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  although  these 
also  are  by  no  means  inconsiderable. 

The  Ukrainians  in  Ukraina  proper  around  Kiew  still  apply 
the  name  "Poland"  to  all  the  territories  west  of  the  river 
Dnieper,  namely,  Podolia,  Volhynia,  and  East  Galicia,  and  they 
consider  the  Poles  as  children  of  the  soil  equally  with  the 
Ruthenians. 

The  favorite  formula  of  the  Ruthenians  to  define  their  own 
nationality  was,  "gente  Ruthenus,  natione  Polonus"  ("the 
Pole  of  the  Ruthenian  descent"). 

Notwithstanding  the  length  of  time,  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years,  that  Volhynia,  Podolia,  and  Ukraina  have  been 


22 

separated  from  Poland,  all  efforts  to  efface  their  Polish  char- 
acter have  been  in  vain. 

Even  the  confiscation  on  a  large  scale  of  Polish  property 
and  the  deportation  of  great  numbers  of  Poles  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Russia,  after  the  revolution  of  1831  and  1863,  have  not 
been  able  to  effect  that  aim. 

The  majority  of  the  Poles,  especially  in  Volhynia  and  Podo- 
lia,  are  landed  proprietors,  owning  in  some  districts  as  much 
as  90  per  cent,  of  the  areas  covered  by  the  large  estates,  and 
representing  a  very  valuable  element,  as  they  are  progressive 
and  introduce  all  the  latest  agricultural  improvements  into 
the  country. 

Of  the  whole  area  covered  by  all  the  provinces  of  Lithuania 
and  Kuthenia,  over  47  per  cent,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Poles. 

A  good  many  Poles  are  also  to  be  found  there  among  the 
peasantry,  especially  in  Eastern  Galicia,  as  well  as  in  Volhynia 
and  Podolia. 

The  Poles  form  also  an  important  section  of  the  urban 
population  of  these  provinces,  as  they  represent  the  principal 
intellectual  element  of  the  country. 

In  many  districts  they  are  forming  even  now  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority. 

As  long  as  these  territories  belonged  to  Poland,  harmony 
prevailed  among  all  the  nationalities  inhabiting  them,  and 
complications  arose  only  when  the  neighboring  countries,  and 
especially  Kussia,  started  to  interfere  in  order  to  prepare  a 
path  to  conquer  and  partition  the  Polish  state. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  good  relations  between  all  these 
nationalities,  apart  from  small  local  quarrels  which  are  bound 
to  arise  whenever  two  or  more  nationalities  inhabit  the  same 
territory,  will  be  maintained,  and  that  they  will  all  have  an 
opportunity  for  a  free  national  development. 

There  is  a  community  of  interest  between  the  Poles,  Lithuan- 
ians, White  Kuthenians,  and  Ukrainians. 

They  have  been  bound  together  for  centuries. 

Poland  cannot  look  indifferently  on  the  fate  of  the  neigh- 
bors among  whom  she  dwells. 

An  independent  Poland  wotild  mean  a  free,  self-governing 
Lithuania,  a  free,  self-governing  White  Ruthenia,  and  a  free, 
self-governing  Ukraina. 


23 

Should  the  Lithuanians  or  Ukrainians  object  to  such  a 
friendly  solution  of  the  problem,  and  should  they  prefer  to 
be  rather  under  the  influence  of  Germany  or  Russia,  which 
last  in  the  case  of  Ukraina  proper  is  most  to  be  expected,  then 
the  Poles  do  not  want  to  force  them  in  or  to  argue  with  them 
about  it. 

All  they  want,  in  such  a  case,  is  to  draw  the  boundaries  of 
Poland  proper  in  the  East,  according  to  their  actual  strength 
and  number,  so  as  to  include  at  least  those  border  provinces 
where  the  majority  of  the  population  is  Polish  or  wants  de- 
cidedly to  be  united  with  Poland  on  the  ground  of  common 
culture,  religion,  and  a  community  of  the  interests  of  life. 

The  whole  of  Eastern  Galicia,  and  the  majority  of  Podolia, 
Volhynia,  White  Ruthenia,  and  historic  Lithuania  would  go 
certainly  to  Poland  without  any  restriction  in  such  a  case. 

"Salus  populi  suprema  lex  esto"  and  consequently  if  the  peo- 
ple of  Lithuania  proper  and  Ukraina  proper  would  prefer 
rather  to  fall  under  the  influence  of  Germany  or  Russia  than 
to  be  united  with  Poland,  then  in  such  case  the  rights  of  Poland 
should  also  be  protected  by  all  means. 

If  this  is  not  done,  the  Allies  will  have  lost  the  war,  ac- 
cording to  the  statement  of  Dr.  Dillon,  because  there  will  be 
no  strong  and  independent  Poland  after  this  war. 

Fortunately  the  present  conditions,  not  only  of  the  war,  but 
also  of  the  Polish  cause,  give  us  sufficient  guarantee  that  the 
war  is  entirely  won. 

THE  MOMENTOUS  PRONOUNCEMENT  OF  PRESIDENT 
WILSON  TOWARDS  POLAND 

The  fullest,  noblest,  and  most  sincere  expression  of  justice 
to  be  done  to  suffering  Poland  was  voiced  before  the  forum  of 
the  world  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  his  historic 
address  to  the  Senate  on  January  22,  1917,  which  happened 
to  be  delivered  on  the  day  of  the  anniversary  of  the  last  Polish 
uprising,  and  in  the  centennial  year  of  Kosciuszko's  death. 

While  expounding  the  high  humanitarian  ideals  of  the  Re- 
public, the  President  said  he  takes  it  for  granted  "that  states- 
men everywhere  are  agreed  that  there  should  be  a  united,  inde- 
pendent, and  autonomous  Poland." 


24 

The  moral  effect  of  this  pronouncement  by  the  Chief  of  this 
great  Nation  cannot  be  overestimated. 

President  Wilson  has  rendered  to  Poland  such  service  that 
his  name  will  ever  be  gratefully  remembered  by  every  true  Pole. 

He  repeated  and  included  the  same  momentous  statement 
about  Poland  with  almost  the  force  of  international  law  in 
the  thirteenth  point  of  the  conditions  of  the  peace  with  Ger- 
many, which  are  accepted  now  by  all  Allied  Governments,  and 
the  Polish  people  are  perfectly  satisfied  that  their  fate,  if  de- 
cided in  accordance  with  these  principles,  will  be  a  happy  one. 

The  Poles  never  doubted  that  this  would  come. 

They  knew  that  "Poland,  with  a  land  heritage  of  three- 
fourths  of  a  million  square  kilometres,  with  a  historic  past 
one  thousand  years  old,  with  a  tradition  of  freedom  and  free- 
dom-giving, with  a  rich  civilization,  with  a  beautiful  language 
and  literature,  with  an  annual  economic  production  amounting 
to  several  billions,  with  a  robust  and  virile  population  of  about 
thirty  millions  of  Poles  and  some  twenty  millions  of  other 
kindred  nationalities,  is  not  a  fragment, — that  it  is  a  great 
nation,  one  of  the  few  great  nations  of  Europe  and  of  the 
world." 

They  knew  that  their  right  to  their  heritage  is  imprescript- 
ible, indisputable,  and  that  they  are  entitled  to  a  sincere  con- 
sideration of  their  case  on  the  part  of  the  great  democracies 
of  the  world. 

God  bless  Democracy! 

God  bless  all  who  contributed  and  are  still  contributing  to 
the  freedom  of  Poland! 

Let  us  close  with  the  words  of  I.  Paderewski,  the  world- 
famous  artist  whom  the  exigencies  of  the  world  war  for  civili- 
zation have  converted  into  an  equally  world-famous  Polish 
diplomat : — 

"Poland  will  be  free  and  so  will  her  inhabitants,  as  in  this 
majestic  and  mighty  Kepublic. 

"The  Democratic  Constitution  of  Poland  will  assure  liberty 
and  equality  as  to  race,  religion,  or  political  opinion. 

"Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Jews  will  all  enjoy  equal  rights 
as  they  will  all  fulfil  equal  duties. 

"There  was,  there  is,  and  there  will  be  no  oppression  of  any 
kind  in  free  Poland,  but  self-defence !" 

Thus  is  expressed  the  heartfelt  opinion  of  the  Polish  people. 


25 

The  world  aspect  of  this  question  is  of  even  more  vital  im- 
portance. 

A  strong,  economically  independent  Poland  will  be  the  most 
positive  guarantee  of  world  peace  and  impregnable  barrier  to 
future  German  aggression  that  can  be  derived. 

In  a  phrase:  A  strong  Poland  means  the  end  of  European- 
born  war. 


INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 


Q 
THE     SEVENTH     DAY 


LD  21-95m-7,'37 


YC  52237 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


